Note: Okay, so admittedly this chapter is like fluffy filler. But, every story has to have to fluffy filler chapters to offset the dramatic longer ones. I hope you enjoy it anyways!
On Christmas Day, Mark was with his family in Houston. It was nice to see them again and he had even gone a couple hours without Stephanie crossing his mind but when his older brother, Mike, showed up with his wife, Mark thought about Stephanie and he hated it. He hated that he thought about her when he saw his brother's wife.
He just wanted to fuck Stephanie. He just wanted to fuck Stephanie. He just wanted to fuck Stephanie.
That mantra had become a daily affirmation of sorts and he recited it in his mind several times every day. He had been doing that for the last five days since the Christmas party incident of '93, as Will had jokingly dubbed it. Mark found it to be not so funny. Will spent the next day putting ideas in Mark's head that maybe Mark wasn't just after Stephanie's body but rather Stephanie, the girl he was so keen to describe every detail of to Will when the older man prodded for more information. Mark hated that he had told Will everything about Stephanie like a little girl giggling about her crush to her friends. That was when he created his daily affirmation which was helpful for the first two days but the more he said it, the more he just thought about Stephanie and not just about wanting to fuck her. Oh no.
He thought about their ongoing debates over current political issues and their discussions about the latest movies to come out (which, they always agreed upon what they thought was good and bad). He thought about the way she could go on about wrestling the same way he could and he loved that she had enjoyed the first UFC event that had aired a month ago. He perhaps lingered thinking a little too long on the way she stormed over to him when she felt the need to rant about something; he could picture the passion that flared up behind her eyes no matter what the issue. And he found it to be absolutely adorable the way she wound her hair around her finger when she was thinking. It was something that she did without thinking about it, but he noticed it every time.
This was exactly why his daily affirmations were failing him.
Of course as soon as he had stopped thinking about Stephanie, his brother asked about her. He told him about the Christmas party incident of '93 and about the things he said to Will and what Will had said to him, to which Mike shrugged his shoulders.
"I mean, I've never heard ya talk 'bout any other woman the way you talk 'bout her. Not that I approve or nothin', she is a bit young. But man, you're still hung up on this girl after months."
"I'm not hung up on Stephanie!"
"You just told me 'bout how ya told Will everythin' about this woman. And not about how nice her tits looked, but what her favorite things are, what kinda things set her off, and all these little things that I don't even notice 'bout Laura!"
"Well yeah, because Steph and I are friends first and foremost."
Mike just shook his head "Look, I didn't think you should've kept this whole thing happenin', but since you did I think now you're in way too deep man."
Mark refused to admit that he had been in way too deep from the first time he called her princess and that he was past the point of no return when he first kissed her, the Christmas party incident of '93 was just there to secure his place in hell.
It wasn't until later in the night, after most of Mark's already married off and with kids family had arrived, that he began to want to talk to Stephanie. He didn't know about what, he just wanted to talk to her and he tried to go through his daily affirmations and they worked a little bit at first but they seemed pointless after awhile.
They became especially pointless as he picked up the phone and dialed the McMahon house number. He didn't really have a plan but he figured he might as well take a chance of having Stephanie pick up the phone and if she didn't, he could at least pretend to be a great employee and wish Vince a Merry Christmas.
Mark was confused and in denial and with each ring he felt weaker and weaker. How did this little girl have so much control over him? She wasn't even here! She wasn't even trying to exert any control for that matter!
"Hello?"
"Steph?"
"Mark?"
"Hey, princess."
Stephanie's voice noticeably perked up on the phone "Merry Christmas!"
"Merry Christmas to you too."
"You called."
It wasn't a question.
"I did."
"How was your Christmas?"
"It was nice. I'm at my parents house with family, got to see everyone. How was yours?"
"Good! I mean, I got a lot of cool stuff and saw some family earlier."
"Get spoiled again, princess?" he teased her.
"What would Christmas be if it didn't involve spoiling Stephanie McMahon?"
"I dunno, maybe Jesus' birthday?"
"Details, details." she giggled.
He was smiling, not that she could see it, but he was smiling like an idiot while talking in a hushed tone over the phone to avoid any family taking notice. Unfortunately, he had noted that a few people had glanced in his direction numerous times with an odd expression. It wasn't as though he had anyone else to call, right? His family was all here.
"Well, I just wanted to...call."
"It was nice to hear your voice. I'm glad you called."
"Me too. Okay, well, I'll see you soon." Mark paused and when Stephanie didn't respond immediately he added on "Merry Christmas, princess."
If Mark could reach out to grab his words he would and he would take them back. The way he had said 'princess' was not in his usual teasing tone, but rather as if she was genuinely his princess. He didn't even know if he meant it like that but surely he didn't want to say it to Stephanie. He had spent months pretending a kiss didn't happen then he let it happen again and all of a sudden he was a lovesick little puppy, calling her up on Christmas day and saying princess as though she was the love of his life.
"Merry Christmas, Mark."
She hung up first. She did. As if he needed to feel like a weaker man, she had hung up on him. He was the one who was lingering around on the phone waiting for something else, but for what?
He just wanted to fuck Stephanie. He just wanted to fuck Stephanie. He just wanted to fuck Stephanie.
"So much for just wantin' to fuck Stephanie" Mike appeared behind him. He could read Mark like a book. That, and he had overheard the end of their conversation.
"Fuck off" Mark muttered "I do just wanna fuck her. Just wanna fuck her and be friends, nothin' more."
"Do ya call all the other girls 'princess' too?"
"That's not fair, Steph isn't like the other girls."
Mike didn't need to reply. He just stood there and smirked, pleased and how he had gotten Mark to back himself into a corner and Mike even got to see Mark's signature Undertaker scowl when he realized what he'd said.
"Like I said, fuck off." Mark grunted as he walked away.
As Mark laid in his old bed in his childhood bedroom that night, he decided that he had a moment of weakness, seeing all of his family with their spouses and their kids and that calling Stephanie in the first place just came from a place of loneliness. And he had also decided that calling Stephanie 'princess' the way he had was just a mistake. Just an unintentional slip up that he hadn't meant to do. That whole conversation just shouldn't have happened at all.
He just wanted to fuck Stephanie. He just wanted to fuck Stephanie. He just wanted to fuck Stephanie.
Maybe if he said it enough it would be true.
Stephanie was absolutely floored when Mark called her, but she had tried to play it cool, after all she was trying to show him that she could be an adult about this whole situation they were in. But, when he called her princess, she knew she had to get off the phone immediately or she would risk saying way more than planned. She didn't want to pour her heart out about how long she's had a crush on him and how she wanted nothing more than to be with him. Mainly because she didn't want to come off like some needy little teenager, which she usually wasn't.
Her dad had asked her who called once she got off the phone and returned to the kitchen to snack with her family. She lied and told him that it was her friend, Veronica. Stephanie was a rather proficient liar when it came to her parents. She knew she couldn't tell them that Mark had called to wish her a Merry Christmas. No, just her, not Vince. After all, she was the smartest in her class and in her own personal opinion, more mature than a lot of people her age.
She didn't feel like her friends who claimed to be more mature but went around to parties hooking up with random, gross guys. She felt like she was actually mature and considering she had gotten herself into a rather adult situation, she thought this line of thinking was justified.
Mature for her age or not, she knew seventeen still meant a minor and that Mark was not likely to cross that line. He had too many morals that he liked to stick by and she already could sense him beating himself up for even kissing her.
Even with all his damned morals, she wished he would just come around to it and see how perfect they were. The way she saw it.
The day after Christmas, Mark had packed up his suitcase and was ready to leave. He was saying his goodbyes to his parents that morning after breakfast, a little melancholic about having to get back on the road.
His mom had her arms wrapped around him, squeezing him more than hugging him "I'll miss you so much my Marky!"
"I'll miss ya too, Mom." he hugged her back until she reluctantly let go.
"Now next time you come, you bring that girl Mike mentioned along!" she insisted.
Mark felt his face going completely red. In private the previous day, Mike had told their mother about Stephanie. He left out her age and that she was his boss's daughter, but he told him about how Mark talked about her and what he knew.
"Maybe, Mom, we'll see." Mark laughed nervously as he made his way outside to his truck with his parents waving goodbye at the door.
Great, now he was stuck with a long drive alone in his truck with that to think about. He had to think about what it would be like introducing Stephanie to his mother and he knew that they'd get along great. That killed him and he gritted his teeth, trying to stop thinking about it. He didn't need to be thinking about how Stephanie would make harmless jokes about Mark to his mom and how his mom would think that Stephanie was the cutest girl and so perfect for him. He certainly didn't need to be thinking about any of that.
He just wanted to fuck Stephanie. He just wanted to fuck Stephanie. He just wanted to fuck Stephanie.
Then he ruined those affirmations when he thought about how his mom would say that Stephanie was so sweet when he knew she was in fact a little spitfire filled with enough passion and sass to light Houston. But he liked that and wouldn't have her any other way.
